Find My Own Way
by Schiznie
Summary: Skit was just a normal girl with a weird family, that lived in a weird town, and went to school with weird people. At least, that's how she felt about it. But as her eighteenth birthday nears, she learns that there's more to her life than she thought. When She befriends Zim she realizes that she may not be so normal after all. ZimxOC Beta reader needed Edit:Rating changed
1. Nice To Smeet Juu

**Nice to Smeet Juu!**

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**Edit: Changed a small but important detail in this chapter about Skit's birthday...  
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**Edit: Some minor changes made; hopefully it's easier to read  
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Tallest Purple peered through the glass of a large tank. Inside was a small, dark green smeet floating in the bubbly, life preserving liquid. He cringed, the smeet was so _tiny_. It was hard to believe that one day it might be as tall as he. Purple looked away from the tank to see if any of the drones were paying attention to him. None so much as looked in his direction, underestimating his capabilities. Quickly, he typed something in the panel; a command to the program building this particular smeet. The drones hadn't figured out how to make this particular clone function, but Tallest Purple knew exactly what was wrong with it. He didn't know why he cared about this particular clone while so many before it failed horribly. But there was something about its cute purple eyes that the Tallest hadn't seen in its predecessors, something worth saving.

Skittles woke up in a cold sweat. She had woken up from a disturbing dream, but couldn't quite remember what it was about. A dark curly mass of green hair shook violently as she shook herself awake. The hair settled in a nest about her head, sticking up at odd angles and twisting up and around in all directions. Turning to her left, she squinted at the blaring red numbers on her alarm clock signaling that it was just after three o'clock in the morning. Skittles groaned; it was the third time this week she'd woken up so early. From prior experience she knew that going back to sleep was futile and she would just have to busy herself for the next few hours.

Skittles started by getting ready for the day; though she wasn't a morning person, she also wasn't the type of person to sit around in pajamas. She grabbed some clothes off the floor, sniffing them to make sure they were wearable, and made her way into the hall to the bathroom. She snuck her way to the end of the hall, careful not to wake any of her other family members. Once in the bathroom, she looked in the mirror. The reflection of a not yet eighteen year old girl stared back at her. The messy halo of green hair-yes it's a natural green-framed her head, and her dark eyes were half-lidded with sleepiness. Her skin was a dark color, unlike her paler family members, and she was pretty tall standing at five-foot six and still growing (because of this she usually wore skirts, which are much cheaper than buying pants every couple of months).

After getting ready, Skittles spent most of the morning playing video games and snacking on Cheese Doodles. Sure that's not the making of a well balanced breakfast, but anything that wasn't overly processed gave her a stomachache. So there she was, sitting at the table, mindlessly playing her GameSlave, munching of cheesy snacks and sipping Poop Cola. As the sun started to rise, she got a rare glimpse at her beloved foster father, Ted, who worked in a lab and rarely had time to spend with his family. But Ted was a really great guy and did his best to spend as much time with his family as he could.

Ted rushed past Skittles with a piece of bread hanging out of his mouth. He ruffled her hair, which she didn't bother to try and fix, as he walked past.

"Mornin' Skit! See you tonight."

He called to his young ward. It occurred to him that in a few months she would be free to leave his home if she chose. He shuddered in anticipation, dreading the changes her eighteenth birthday would bring.

Zim stared helplessly at the screen. It had been nearly two years since he'd bothered contacting the Massive. It wasn't that he had given up his mission of conquering this piece of space dirt called Earth, but his plans had taken the past two years to complete. Not to mention his hiatus of world conquest threw his nemesis Dib for a loop. But now, after two years of silence, he had contact with his Tallest. Surprisingly, it wasn't he who had called them, but rather them who had called the all mighty Zim. Zim though back to the moments prior.

_Zim was busy putting the final touches on his ultimate plan of world destruction. It seemed that several years in this earth training facility called 'Skool' had paid off. He learned a rather disturbing amount of information about earthlings that had tried to conquer their own planet and used their ideas, along with a few of his own, to create the perfect plan. Just as he was drawing up the final batch of schematics, his transmission screen started to buzz with static. Alarmed, Zim stopped what he had been doing to stand at attention._

"_ZIM! Zim are you there?" a voice called. Some grumbling was heard in the background._

"_Geez, he's really our last hope? Pur, I don't think-"_

_The other voice cut it off with more yelling. Finally a picture came on the screen revealing the Almighty Tallest of the Irken Empire. Zim bowed and greeted the Tallest._

_"My Tallest! It is a pleasure for ZIM to hear from you."  
Tallest Purple rolled his eyes and Red stared at the screen, dumbstruck._

"_Who are you? We don't remember sending another Invader to Earth."_

_Zim cocked his eyebrow in confusion._

"_It is I, the great Invader ZIM!"_

"_No way, you're so-"_

"_TALL!"_

_Tallest Purple interrupted Tallest Red. Zim's face brightened in pride. Indeed, the Earth atmosphere had been very beneficial to him in increasing his height. He now stood at a mighty six-foot five, taller than his Tallest._

"_Anyway, we need you to do us a favor,"__Tallest Red began as Purple eyed Zim wearily._

"_Tallest Purple _lost _something of his a few years ago, and we seem to have located it on your planet."_

"_I did not lose it! It was stolen!"_

"_Anyway, we are sending you the details. If you succeed, there might be a very bright future here on Irk for you."_

"_YEA! Now that you're tall and all. Tallest out."  
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_Tallest Purple ended the transmission._

The transmission had completely taken him by surprise. In all his time on Earth, the Tallest had never really asked him to do anything outside of his mission, not directly anyway. And now it seemed that he was being trusted to retrieve a very sacred item for his Tallest Purple. A grin spread across his face as he realized that this was just one more chance for him to prove himself. As the instructions and briefing came through, Zim realized he was only months away from being the greatest Invader of all time.

Skittles glared at the man-no, boy-in front of her. Her 'uncle' Blu was casually sitting at the table, munching on dry cereal. Blu was a modest height for a man of 25 years, being a mere six feet, with dirty blonde hair and eerie blue eyes. He was a lean build and very muscular, Skittles noticed as he sat without his shirt on. Skittles never liked Blu; he was strange and touchy and too close to her own age for her to acknowledge him as her uncle. Blu stared smugly back at Skittles. Blu's sister, Ted's wife, Cree, made herself pancakes on the other side of the kitchen. Cree was a petite woman with long blonde hair and the same creepy blue eyes as Blu.

Cree either ignored the tension in the room, or didn't notice it. But the latter wouldn't be surprising since Cree tried to ignore Skittles on a daily basis. As nice as Ted was, Skittles couldn't understand why he surrounded himself with these people.

"So, you're turning eighteen years in a few months, right, Skit?" Blu asked casually.

Skittles nodded wearily. Blu licked his lips.

"That means you'll be old enough to-"

Cree cut him off by throwing a pan at his head. Skittles looked up at her in surprise, she'd never stopped Blu before, so why now? But as Skittles looked over it, seemed as though Cree never moved from her spot at the stove. Blu nursed the bumped forming on his head and glared at his sister. Skittles took this time to hastily leave the kitchen.

Zim sat in his desk quietly, for once. Dib, who had managed to get himself in all of Zim's classes, sat a few desks behind him. Dib was unnerved by Zim, to say the least. It had been years since the alien had attempted anything, and Dib was wondering what he had been planning. It was highly unlikely to Dib that maybe the alien grew bored of conquest, or just stopped trying. He knew that something big was underway.

Zim was anxious. The way the Tallest acted, he wouldn't have thought that His Tallest Purple had lost his own clone. It seemed that the clone had been missing for ten Earth years, and it was expected to rule as the next Tallest, if it was still alive and tall enough. The file he received had no other description except 'female smeet of His Tallest Purple', which put him on edge. How was he supposed to find another Irk on Earth? Luckily, Zim was able to calculate the exact Earth age of the Irken female and, assuming she was human, deducted that she would be in Hi-Skool. The file also stated that the clone would most likely be wearing a Haaz jewel to conceal its appearance. Zim spent the better half of the night and morning trying to narrow down his search, at which he had not done as well as he would have liked. Zim was so lost in thought, he hadn't realized that someone was talking to him.

"Hey, green kid, get out of my seat," Skittles demanded. The boy in front of her looked as though he was in deep though. Not that Skittles cared or anything. His dark hair was styled in a bouffant style that was dorky when she first saw it but, due to recent trends, was now quite good looking. His eyes were blue, but he had this funky red undertone to them, making them look a little purple. His skin had a strange green tint to it, which he attributed to gangrene, as well as slits for a nose and holes for ears. Zim wasn't attractive in the least.

Zim looked up at the annoyed human worm baby. He scowled, taking in her petty human appearance. This Skittles, he remembered, had been in classes with him since the year after he first came to Earth. She wore a dark purple shirt with a long brown skirt, usual attire for this Earth monkey. However, his eyes lingered on the small orange jewel around her neck. It seemed to glow eerily and emitted a faint orange aura around her body that humans were unable to see. His eyes widened for a second as he realized what that jewel was. Zim quickly stood up and resisted the sudden urge to bow.

"Ugh, erm. I was wondering if you'd like to join me for pizza after Skool?"

Zim panicked as he thought of the easiest way to get her alone. He hoped that his invitation for a date was not rejected by her, because the other plan he thought of involved pigs, tacos, and rope.

Dib could not believe what he was seeing. Zim was asking Skittles out on a date. The very same Skittles he had asked out numerous times before. There was no way she'd ever consider going out with that alien. What disturbed Dib most was the fact that Zim wanted to go out with her to some place other than Skool, and he could not help but be suspicious of what Zim was planning.

Skittles was surprised to say the least. She was used to being asked on dates by Dib, but Zim had never so much as uttered a word to her since she moved to this town. Zim wasn't the least bit attractive to her; however, the thought of someone other than creepy Dib asking her out did flatter her. She shrugged, taking in Zim's hopeful and nervous expression.

"Sure."

Dib could not believe his ears. She said yes? The words he'd been hoping to hear from her were directed at the alien and not him.

"YOU CAN'T GO OUT WITH HIM! HE'S AN ALIEN!" Dib yelled, drawing attention to Skittles' and Zim's exchange. The other teens in the class started to make kissing noises and other obnoxious sounds at Zim and Skittles. Skittles didn't look too annoyed, but Zim looked like he was about to explode.

"Dib, don't be jealous that Skittles likes someone other than you," red-headed Gretchen screamed from the other side of the class room.

Dib sulked. Zim had to have devised a plan concerning Skittles, that's the only way she would have ever agreed to date Zim over himself and the only reason Zim could be interested.

Skittles hardly blinked at the commotion Dib had caused. It was annoying and would probably be talked about for the next few months. But she shrugged, hardly caring and took the seat next to her new friend. She was sure that this outing would result in something wonderful, like friendship or maybe homicide.

Skittles and Zim walked, in what she assumed to be the direction of Zim's house, after school. She had never been to this strange child's house before. As they walked up to it, she wondered how on Earth she could have missed it. It was tall, green with a pink roof, and had Gnomes, plastic Flamingos, and 'I heart earth' flags all over the place. She cringed; Zim's parents must be freaks. Zim walked up to his mail box and took a key out of his pocket. He looked around to see if anyone was watching, and took out the mail flag and stuck the key in the hole. A loud 'kish' sounded over Zim's yard.

"Security System," he explained as he walked across the lawn to the front door. Skittles hastily followed.

Dib wanted to follow them. He should have followed them, but he had to work. After turning eighteen, he left his house to live on his own. And after finding out that he was a clone, he disassociated himself with his dad completely, not that Prof. Membrane ever noticed. As much as he wanted to follow Zim and save Skittles, he also needed to work to pay for his living expenses. On the bright side, he had enough money to complete his prototype weapon to, hopefully, sell on the black market.

Zim and Skittles sat on the couch, eating cheese pizza. Zim had, apparently, asked his 'parents' to order some before they went off to 'work'. The box had been seated on the coffee table with two brain freezies and a plethora of snacks. She and Zim happily ate the food provided and chatted about pointless stuff.

"So, Skit. Zim wants to know where you got that necklace." Skittles rolled her eyes at Zim's annoying habit of referring to himself in the third person.

"It was a gift from my birth parents," Skittles wasn't embarrassed that she was adopted and didn't keep it a secret.

"Oh? Did your adopted family know your birth parents?"

"No. They said they just got me through an agency when I was younger, but I don't actually remember being in an orphanage."

Zim's eyes narrowed in concentration. Her background was strangely vague, but it didn't confirm anything. The only piece of real evidence he had was the Haaz jewel that he suspected hung around her neck.

"May I see your necklace?" Skittle shrugged, faintly remembering when she first got her necklace and Ted told her to never, ever take it off. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Skittle took off the necklace, suddenly feeling cold as the trinket left her hand. As Zim took the necklace, he stared in surprise at Skittle. She shifted uncomfortable under Zim's gaze.

"I thought you wanted to look at the necklace."

"It's not the necklace I wanted to see, but what it was hiding."

Zim stared at Skittle in surprise. He couldn't believe his great skill, having found the missing smeet in less than twenty-four Earth hours. The being in front of him was almost a foot shorter than himself. Her skin was a dark green color, and her eyes were large and purple. Besides her height, the feminine curl of her antennae, and her thick eye lashes, Skittle looked just like Tallest Purple.

"I think I know who your real parents are," Zim stood up, the delicious snacks forgotten, and beckoned Skittle to follow him into the kitchen.

"I have something you may want to see."


	2. Normalcy is Overrated

**Normalcy Is Overrated**

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**A/N: Quick thanks to Darkinvader897, Shadow the Ranger, and Mrfluffehz for stalking my story! Also two updates in one day, don't get too used to it but I'll continue to do my best! :D  
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"Zim where are we going?"

Skittles was a little unnerved about Zim's kitchen. Other than the toilet sitting in the corner of the room, it was kind of normal. Zim gestured to the toilet before stepping in it and flushing himself. Skittles stood in front of the toilet with a look of disbelief on her features.

"Did he just?..."

This couldn't get any stranger, she thought as she too climbed into the toilet and flushed herself. She found that the toilet was an entry way to a very large high-speed tube. If she hadn't just flushed herself, she would have been excited and enjoyed the ride. Many colors flashed in front of her eyes as she descended, at least she felt like she was descending. She couldn't help but wonder if this is what Alice felt like going down the Rabbit hole. The ride was over as quickly as it started. At the bottom of the tube she felt as though she were suspended in the air before she fell in a tangled heap of lanky limbs on the floor.

Staring at her hands trying to find her ground, she noticed that her once darkly tanned skin was now a dark green and she had three long spinally fingers instead of the normal five.

"What the fuck?"

Skittles stood up, a little too quickly, and inspected the rest of her body. Her hair was gone and instead she had two very long antennae atop of her head. Looking down she realized her clothes fit rather loose and that she was much thinner than she had been, but still rather flat chested. She swerved around and quickly scanned the area for Zim. It seemed as if she were now in a ridiculously large laboratory.

"Zim! What the hell did you do to me?"

Zim, she saw, was sitting in front of a computer screen frantically typing on a large keyboard. He barely looked in her direction before tossing her the necklace he had been holding. Once She caught it, Skittle noticed that her hands went back to 'normal' as did her skin and hair.

"W-what's going on?"

"You are Irken, as is your 'father'."

Zim responded, still looking at the screen.

"You know my real father?"

Skittles was curious, scared but curious. How had she gone her whole life not realizing she wasn't even human? Who was her father? And why wasn't she more afraid than she felt? Sure she was alarmed that the human image she's held for almost eighteen years was faked by a pretty stone necklace, but for some reason it wasn't really all the strange. Even Zim, she noticed, looked a lot more 'natural' now that he was no longer wearing his wig and contacts.

"So we're aliens? Like in the movies; like how Dib's been ranting about for ages?"

Zim absentmindedly nodded his head to her questions. He wasn't really listening, too busy trying to get his machinery to work. It was imperative that he contact the Massive now, before Skittles thought to escape. Finally after much tinkering, and many questions from the, now human, female behind him, he was able to reach the Massive.

"Heh? ZIM? What do you want? Have you found our heir?"

Tallest Red was the only one sitting in the throne; Tallest Purple was nowhere to be seen.

"Heir?"

Skittles quipped from behind Zim. She studied the image on the screen carefully. The Alien, well Irken, man (this was guess) looked very familiar to her. Like she'd seen him somewhere like a dream or a distant memory. Zim stood smugly and proudly in front of the transmission screen. He took a deep bow and gestured to Skittles.

"I have found her My Tallest!"

Zim exclaimed rather loudly.

"That's not her! It's a hoo-man dirt child."

Red sneered. Skittles cringed, she didn't like the way this guy was looking at her. Zim perked up and raced to Skittles. He immediately snatched the necklace out of her hand to which gave way to her true form.

"CHEESE WIZ! You did find her!"

Tallest Red stood up, looking rather surprised. He hadn't thought that Zim would have been able to actually do something right. Maybe his increase in height had made him less moronic.

"I'll alert Tallest Purple immediately! We shall be to Earth in six earth months to make sure that she is heir we have been looking for. It is now your job, Zim, to teach her the ways of Irk and prepare her for her reign! Do NOT fail us Zim! Tallest Red out!"

With that, the transmission ended. Zim stood in front of the screen excited. Six months was just enough time to put his plan into action and have Earth conquered by the time the Tallest arrived. He turned quickly on his heel and headed towards Skittles, who looked quite dazed. Zim took the young Irken's hand and dragged her deeper into his base.

"Zim is deeply honored, your Tallest, to be in charge of you and your Irken education for these next earth months."

Zim paused he turned to Skittle's and bowed deeply. Skittles was slightly unnerved and immensely annoyed by the gesture. She shoved Zim and walked a head of him.

"I am not royalty or anything yet Zim. We're still friends okay? Don't treat me all weird."

Zim nodded and rushed in front of her.

"Then Zim is also deeply honored to be considered Her Tallest's friend."

"Just Skittles or Skit Zim. Okay?"

Zim nodded as he lead her into a room. The room, was vey drab with a bed, dresser, desk and chairs. Skittles looked around the room, noticing that there was a strange symbol on the bed sheets.

"What's that symbol mean?"

Skittles pointed at the meticulously made bed. Zim raised his brow in question before remembering that she most likely had no knowledge of Irk.

"That symbol is of the GREAT Irken Empire that rules over the entire UNIVERSE!"

With that Zim went into a lengthy lecture about Irk and their ways being sure to cover the basics of the great Empire for Skittles to understand, thus beginning day one of her Tallest training. Zim ranted nearly the entire night before Skittles got tired. She wondered, momentarily, if anyone noticed she was missing. Then she wondered if anyone actually cared. Aside from Ted, no one else really paid her much attention; and though Ted isthe kindest to her, he is hardly ever around. Besides, she's been gone days at a time before and no one even batted an eyelash in her direction when she returned home.

"Hey Zim, I'm still used to humany sleeping stuff. Can we talk about this after Skool tomorrow?"

Zim nodded and left the room with a huge grin on his face. Skittles had never seen anyone that happy in her entire life, but finding the long lost princess of your empire was something to be extremely happy about.

They had been found out. Ted wasn't sure if he was extremely happy or extremely scared. On the one hand having Skit found by the Tallest was a relief for she'd soon be on the Massive where she belong, however if the Tallest ever remembered that it was he who was suppose to watch the young Smeet he was sure to meet his doom. On the other hand, Blu would surely kill him if he didn't pretend to look for the girl. Either way it seemed that Ted would lose; there was no way He'd let Irk fall into the hands of that short monster.

Skittles and Zim arrived at skool late the next day. Skittle had lost her necklace and spent the better part of the morning looking for it. As it turned out Zim had taken it to duplicate to make his own. After being angry with Zim, Skittles calmed down when she realized Zim looked a lot more human and wondered why he never tried to make a jewel before.

"It's illegal to have or else I would have used it a long time ago."

Was his reply; but with all the advanced Irken technology you'd think that Zim would have make a hologram or something better than the awful disguise he had before. His human image wasn't much different from before; he still had that stupid hair style and blue eyes, but his skin lost that green tinge and he now had ears and a nose. All in all he looked completely human. Now how was he going to explain that if, anyone noticed the difference? Apparently the new appearance would aid him in world domination; however after hearing about his former plans she felt that nothing would help him rule the world except a better brain.

Dib twitched as he saw Skittle enter the class room with some random guy. He couldn't help but wonder who he was and where was Zim. Skittle and the guy sat next to each other in classes and were whispering furiously to each other throughtout the entire lecture. It was nearly time for the class to be over when Dib realized the guy was Zim, a human Zim.

"LOOK! ZIM'S COMPLETELY CHANGED OVER NIGHT! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SKIN CONDITION!"

Dib yelled, once again disrupting class. Skittle rolled her eyes and jumped to Zim's defense.

"Zim's really sensitive about his Surgery Dib! He was sick of YOU calling him an alien and got the surgeries his doctor recommended so he could have a NORMAL life!"

The class booed Dib, calling him insensitive, and throwing things at his large head. Dib just stood there dumbfounded. Skittles yelled at him, not that she hadn't before, but she yelled at him to defend an Alien! Whatever they did yesterday must not have been eating pizza, Dib concluded. Dib was convinced that Zim had, indeed, brainwashed Skittles.

Skittles admits that her lie was horrible but it seemed like everyone in the class believed it. The rest of the day went by quietly, with little to no outbursts from Dib or Zim in any of the classes. Skittles recalled Zim telling her that she was to go home and pretend like she'd never met him. He wasn't quite sure that her adopted family was completely ignorant of her Irken heritage, and if that was the case they were traitors to the Irken Empire. Zim still wanted her to join him after school for her lessons in Irk. She still had an entire language to learn along with Tallest customs, that every Irk had to learn apparently, in case they would grown to be Tallest themselves. Skittles was impressed by Zim and his knowledge of his own culture. It almost made up for Zim's lack of knowledge on human things.

After skool Zim walked with Skittles back to her house, stopping far enough not to be seen by anyone in the house, but close enough to make sure Skittles got in her house okay. Skittles sulked up the pathway to her home, she wasn't thrilled to be back but she hoped that Ted was around and not Cree or Blu.

"I'm home~"

She called as she entered the house. She was greeted with Silence and realized that the house was now completely and totally empty. Panicked she ran outside and called to Zim.

"They're all gone! There's no one here!"

Zim raced to the door, and went in before Skit.

"Stay behind me, keep your eyes open. Alert me if you see anything strange."

Zim took out his phaser and creped around the first floor of the house with Skittles obediently behind him. After seeing nothing he made his way up the stairs and checked all the bedrooms. The final one he came to the door was ajar, unlike the others which were closed.

"This is my room."

Zim signaled for Skit to stay in the hall. He cautiously entered the room, and looked around. It seemed as though no one bothered to pack this room at all. It looked lived in, clothes were on the floor and the bed was unmade. On the desk was a thick envelope next to a sheet of paper. Zim inched towards the desk, weary of items that laid on it. The note, Zim noticed, was completely in Irk which made him think it was meant for himself or the Tallest. The Envelope had Skittle's name on it in English. After checking the entire room, Zim deemed it safe enough for Skit to enter.

"Grab a few clothes and anything else you need. I'll take this stuff here."

Skittles nodded and immediately followed Zim's command, his tone was very serious and demanded respect. It took the pair less than ten minutes to gather everything up and leave the house. Skittles stared glumly at the envelope; she was a little upset that her 'so-called family' had up and left her. When they arrived at Zim's home they were greeted by a very hyper, green 'dog'.

"MASTER!"

It screamed. By now Skittles thought she would be prepared for anything, but talking green dog she was not.

"GIR, go retrieve an, ugh, TACO! Yes, Taco!"

The dog, GIR, saluted Zim. His eyes narrowed and became red.

"Yes Master!"

And with that it giggled insanely and flew through the roof via jets in it's feet. Skittles blinked; yea, that was the strangest thing she'd seen all day.


	3. Nothing But Lies

**Nothing But Lies**

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**A/N: Hey guys! I'm excited to see that the first two chapters got such a good reception! Thanks to everyone that's reviewed and added this story to their watch list and me to their favorites list. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter! Just a warning: This chapter contains half-assed descriptions of nudity. Nothing super graphic, but bad enough that I felt the need to change the rating. Better safe than sorry! Thanks and Enjoy!**

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Skittles sat on Zim's couch, well her couch too, and stared at the thick manila envelope in her lap. Neatly scrawled on the front in Ted's hand writing was her name and a smiley face, which was ironic because she was not happy in the least. She wondered whether or not she wanted to see what was inside it or just live in misery and never know what her ex-father had tried to tell her after his abrupt departure. After much debating, Skittles shoved the envelope in her overnight bag. She'd read it eventually.

Zim's eyes carefully scanned the Irken characters on the small piece of paper. The note was short and to the point, enough to make Zim anxious. Whoever wrote didn't know who he was, but knew that the Armada had found Skittles. The small group was gone for now, but based on the note Zim knew they wouldn't be gone for long.

Skittles roamed her new home aimlessly. Obviously since her home had been abandoned she would be staying with Zim. He was in charge of her anyway, so it would just be easier for both of them if she continued to stay at his home. His base, she reminded herself. The only home he had was on the Massive, this temporary abode was his base of operations. Skittles wondered if Zim ever missed being aboard the ship he was born. He never mentioned any kind of home sickness, and she supposed that he wouldn't want to be on the Massive anyway. For an Invader staying on the Massive meant that they were a failure for an Invader's duty was to invade. But his description of the Ship was vague and all she knew was that it's where Irkens would live until Operation Impending Doom part two would be completed. Zim also didn't mention the planet Irk, which is where Skittles assumed Irkens are from. She figured it was similar to earth, since she didn't have any problems living like a real human here.

Zim entered the 'living area', interrupting Skittle's train of thought. He seemed paranoid as he checked outside the window and peered into the yard.

"What's up Zimmy?"

Zim cringed at the awful nickname Skittles had given him, prompting Skittles to giggle madly.

"ZIM is just pondering where your 'family' has gone."

"Who cares? They're gone and I'll never see them again! Good riddance."

Skittles spat. Though Zim was well accustomed to English by this time, he still could not determine Skittles feelings as she glared at the wall in front of her. Zim briefly wondered if maybe she had the ability to destroy things with her gaze as the wall seemed to visibly smoke. He dismissed the thought and turned back to the window. He felt, uneasy about the situation but didn't want to alarm Skittles. He knew that she was probably having a hard time adjusting to her new lifestyle without the added stress of her 'family' problem.

Skittles dozed noiselessly on the couch. She had become bored with glaring at the wall and fell asleep. Drool flowed from her mouth and soft, strangled snores emitted lowly throughout the room.

Skittles woke up a little later after 6 in the evening. The television was on and was rapidly flashing through various channels. Next to Skittles on the couch was the green dog from earlier, GIR, he had a bag of Tacos and was munching on them. Skittles briefly wondered why it was eating Tacos, because she assumed it was Zim's SIR unit, and where it was storing said Tacos. The really interesting thing was that GIR was not holding the remote, but emitted a clicking noise every time the channel changed. Skittles started at the screen absent mindedly until something on the news caught her eye.

"In other news, there was a large fire on that one street in the city…"

Before the news caster finished talking GIR had changed the channel.

"GIR! CHANGE IT BACK!"

"OKAY!"

The SIR unit responded to Skittles yelling just as loudly as she had. GIR went back to the boring NEWS channel and let the human lady watch the screen. Usually GIR found the NEWS boring; however there was a picture of fire spreading down a residential street and little firemen squirting water guns at it in order to tame the flames. This was more interesting than the Scary Monkey show for GIR, so he happily ate Tacos and watched the boring old NEWS with the pretty human lady. The human lady started to leak from her face holes as she watched the screen. GIR knew that face leaking was something humans did when they were sad, he'd watched enough television to understand human emotions, and he tried to feel bad for the pretty lady. However, feelings weren't in GIR's programming and so he looked back to the screen. The news got boring again, so GIR changed the channel.

Skittles watched as her hold home went up into flames. The reality of the situation hadn't hit her until that moment. The family she had lived with all her life was gone as was her only home. Even worse, the group of people she called 'family' was probably the same group that took her from the Massive and brought her to Earth. Skittles wiped her eyes and gasped down sobbing noises, she hated to cry.

Skittles looked around the room trying to find Zim. He had been there before she fell asleep, and she didn't think she had slept long. Groaning she rolled off the couch onto the floor. A muffled yelp emitted from her as her face hit the concrete floor. She slowly rose, rubbing her nose, and went to Zim's kitchen. Upon exploring earlier, Skittles noticed that everything branched off in the kitchen. There were stairs to an Upper level, as well as the entrance to Zim's base.

Skittles ventured to the stairs, wanting to check if Zim was in his bedroom. As she skipped up the stairs, two at a time, she wondered curiously how much like humans Irkens were. She functioned just as a normal human based on what she knew about humans from health class. She decided that she would just have to ask Zim about it later. Skittles made it to the top of the stairs and went into the first room on her right.

The door creaked noisily, for which Skittles berated herself. The room was dark but Skittles could easily see in the room, something she now attributed with being Irken rather than being special. There was a lump on the bed, moving ever so slowly up and down. Skittles smirked; she could probably get her first biology lesson in now if she was careful enough. Creeping in the room, she made sure not to step on any of the millions of papers and objects scattered among the floor. She shiftily made her way to the bed. Zim was sprawled across his bed. His upper body was bare and his lower body was covered with sheets. The first thing she noticed was that Zim was breath shallowly, like a human. So she figured that Irkens had lungs, or something similar. Staring at Zim's chest she noted that he was chiseled and hairless; So Irkens had a muscular system similar to humans and probably got cold and hot easily due to the lack of hair. Skittles let her hand hover over Zim's upper chest, he had nipples. Skittles studied the little green nubs which were erect from the chill; definitely mammals. So Irkens were pretty close to humans, which is probably why her kidnappers chose earth to live.

Throughout her study, Skittles couldn't help but wonder if Zim was wearing anything under that thin sheet. She also wondered how much like humans Irkens were. Obviously they reproduced similar to humans, Zim had nipples which meant she did too, and the mischievous in her wanted to know how similar Irken reproduction was.

Slowly, Skittles hand reached down to carefully grab the sheet. She periodically looked up to make sure Zim was still asleep as she slowly inched the fabric back. As she inched down Zim's pelvic muscle became visible, very much like a human's, and at this point she was certain of what was down further.

Zim had been watching Skittles very carefully. He had awakened the minute she entered his room. He didn't mind that she was curious; Irkens were a new species to her. So he let her explore. After all, Zim was the greatest Irken specimen in the Universe. Let her see what a perfect Irken looks like. As her hands hovered inches from his body Zim resisted the urge to purr. The proximity of her hands made Zim feel strange. He knew that in humans this was considered arousal, but Irkens did not reproduce like humans. Smeets were created via a very complex process that the humans reading this would not understand, but it did not involve the interaction of Irkens of Opposite genders. During all his time on earth, Zim did notice that Irkens were very similar to humans; not quite exactly the same, but had some resemblances. Humans were a hairier more primitive version of Irkens.

Skittles had pulled the sheet considerably low, but before she could see what lay beyond Zim's hand shot up and grasp her wrist. She inhaled sharply, not realizing that the older Irken was awake. Startled, she fell back onto the floor; Zim rose from his bed slowly. As he stood the purple sheets fell to the ground reveal his lower appendage. Skittles gapped at him; she had never seen a naked male before.

Zim smirked at the gapping female before him. She was obviously impressed by Zim's physique. Zim would have let Skittles continue her 'exploration' but the rising heat he was feeling was much too concerning of a phenomenon and he intended to stop it before something bad would happen. There were no records of any Irken mating for the past few millennia, and he didn't want to end up illegally courting the next Tallest.

Skittles shook herself from her stupor and stood up. She had noticed that Zim had been wearing socks while his other clothes were absent. That was strange; she thought and figured that it was a Zim specific thing because she'd never known anyone to sleep naked save for their socks. However Zim was the first person she'd ever seen sleeping naked. Almost as an afterthought Skittle's eyes shifted to her own bare feet.

Zim followed the female's gaze to her feet. To his horror Skittle's feet were bare, very bare.

"SKITTLES!"

The Irken female jumped at Zim's sudden outburst.

"You MUST make yourself decent for ZIM! Put something on your _feet_!"

Zim had his eyes covered with his hands and was screeching at Skittles. Skittles, ignorant to Irken custom was confused as to why Zim was obviously offended by her lack of footwear but didn't seem to mind her staring at his naked body. All strangeness aside Skittles obligated and pulled on some random socks she found next to her on the floor. Zim started yelling again.

"NO! It is HIGHLY inapproprieate for you to wear ZIM's feet coverings! Take them off immediately and find your own!"

Slightly freightened, Skittles ran out of the room leaving Zim's socks in there. After finally finding her own pair of socks she stalked back to Zim's room and demanded that he explain his outburst.

"I practically saw you naked and you're freaking out because I wasn't wearing socks."

Zim's eyes bulged. This Smeet had no idea of the implications of showing one's bare feet. He struggled with the idea that there were many things that he would have to teach this poor female.

"Zim forgot that you are ignorant to the ways of Irk. So I shall explain why it is so indecent to have your _feet_ exposed to others."

Skittles nodded and sat on Zim's bed, waiting for him to offer his explination.

"Well even though Irkens don't _mate_ there are some cases of a few partaking in the act for pleasure instead of reproduction; much like the human-stink. Well feet are a very lewd, and suggestive _body part_ to us Irkens and the exposure of them in the presences of another is a symbol of _intimacy_. Therefore Zim will have to ask you to cover your feet at all times."

Skittles thought for a moment about what Zim had said. It made since then, how she always had to wear slippers in the house and how Cree or Ted would always get angry or upset if they saw her bare feet. Blu, she remembered, was the only one that didn't mind to look at her feet and often discouraged her from wearing shoes or socks in his presences.

"Blu would always try to get me without shoes on. He gave great foot messages for a creepy uncle."

Zim's eyes widened. This Blu had sexual assaulted His Tallest Purple's clone. It was like assaulting the Tallest himself.

"That is highly inappropriate behavior from someone that considered themselves apart of your family unit."

Zim looked disturbed, Skittles noted. She figured that whatever Blu was doing it was probably the Irken equivalent of molestation. Skittles shuddered in disgust; how could Ted let him in a house with her. She was surprised that she wasn't seriously assaulted with Blu in the house. As she thought of all the uncharacteristically nice things Blu had done, she made a note to ask Zim about other inappropriate and provocative behavior among Irkens.

"Hey Zim,"

Zim grunted in response as he sat back on his bed. Irkens don't usually sleep but because he's been on earth so long he's been sleeping regularly.

"Do you think we'll ever find my kidnappers?"

Zim was partially surprised that Skittles came to terms with the fact that her 'family' unit was full of treasonous scum. He thought back to the letter from earlier. They would be back, and if no one else would take care of them Zim definitely would. No one would get away with kidnapping something as precious as the intended next Tallest without punishment.

"Yes, we will find them."

Zim's eyes seemed to glow eerily in the darkness. A sinister grin spread across his features.

"And they will pay."

Skittles observed Zim as he cackled evilly. She couldn't help but wonder why anyone would care so much about her. She didn't think that a person's devotion to their Empire would be so great that they would willingly hunt down dangerous fugitives. They would have to be highly devoted or psychotic. She also wondered if Zim really cared about her as Skittles or as his next ruler. She shook her head, she was probably over analyzing the situation; Zim was probably just a psychopath.

A dark figure darted about the streets of the city. It agilely dodged the many obstacles inconveniently placed in its way. Its purpose was to reach the fire damaged streets of a nearby neighborhood. The fire only damaged three blocks of the area before dying out, and strangely damaged a large portion of underground sewage systems. Besides the strange fire, there was also something that needed to be confirmed. The fire started from Skittle's home; whether or not she was in the fire was unclear. With a sudden urgency the figure darted the final blocks to his destination.

The once unassuming suburban home was nonexistent. The once white house and perfectly manicured lawn was replaced with charred dirt and a large, gaping crater. There was more than a simple fire. The crater encompassed the entire three blocks and went down a couple of miles. There had to have been an explosion which caused the fire. The Figure leaned down to the edge of the crater and took a sample of the dirt.

Blu watched as the figure crouched down next the crater. His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness. Swiftly, he snuck up behind the bent silhouette.

"This was not caused by any, earthly phenomenon."

Dib jumped in surprised as he heard the deep masculine voice behind him. He didn't think that anyone was in the marked off area. He attempted to turn around.

"Don't look."

Blu hissed; he didn't need this Dib-human to see him. It would ruin the plan.

"I'm sure you will find large amounts of inorganic material in the soil."

"Like plasma?"

Blu let out an exasperated hiss, this human was so stupid.

"No, more alien."

That was all Blu needed to say before Dib stood up.

"ZIM! I knew that he was up to no good."

Blu chuckled darkly, which startled Dib. Sensing Dib's dis-ease Blu coughed to cover up his dark chuckle.

"Yes, well this Zim had the human girl that was staying in this house. I'm afraid that he may experiment on her. Take out her organs or something."

Dib tensed, he didn't want anything bad to happen to Skittles. She was nice, and pretty. Sure she yelled at him a lot and thought he was crazy like everyone, but to him she was perfect. He was so close to having her when stupid Zim brainwashed and kidnapped her.

"I'll find her mystery man, and when I do Zim will pay."

Dib glared at the large crater, presumably made by Zim. Blu chuckled again, this human was so gullible. Just like other humans, he would believe anything that supported his views.

"Wait, who are you anyway? And how do you know so much? And why can't I look at you."

Blu cringed. He wasn't expecting the human child to actually question him. His experience with humans was that they were generally stupid and believed anything. He was right when he thought that this one was slightly different from the others. Thankfully he knew enough about this particular human to quell his suspicion.

"Don't worry Agent Mothman; find Zim and destroy him! Make sure you rescue the girl before she is probed."

With that Blu disappeared. Dib turned around quickly to see nothing behind him. While he was excited that someone from the agency had given him enough attention to check out the mysterious explosion he had to wonder why the man was so vague. There wasn't something right about the whole exchange, but since he couldn't see how it would hurt his personal mission. He was already planning to find Zim and get rid of him once and for all.

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